Record card controlled statistical machines



30W 1956 E. J. GUTTRIDGE 2,771,293

RECORD CARD CONTROLLED STATISTICAL MACHINES Filed Aug. 26, 1953 2Sheets-Sheet l F/GJ.

Inventor ma Jzhawlu e,

Nov. 20, 1956 J. GUTTRIDGYE RECORD CARD CONTROLLED STATISTICAL MACHINES2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 26, 1955 United States Patent RECORD CARDCONTROLLED STATISTICAL MACHINES Eric John Guttridge, Barnes, England,assignor to Powers- Samas Accounting Machines Limited, London, England,a British company Application August 26, 1953, Serial No. 376,710

Claims priority, application Great Britain October 20, 1952 6 Claims.(Cl. 271-88) This invention relates to record card controlledstatistical machines and in particular to a machine which includes asupport on which statistical record cards are superposed as they issuein succession from the machine, the support being movable away from theposition of card delivery thereto and spring-urged towards saidposition, and driving means for the machine.

As is well understood in the art the controls for statistical machinesof the kind referred to are normally situated at that end of the machinewhich is remote from the end thereof at which the cards issue from themachine. Consequently, when, during operation of the machine, it isdesired to remove cards from the support before it reaches apredetermined maximum distance from the position of card delivery it isnecessary for the operator to proceed first to the control end of themachine in order to operate the controls to effect stopping of themachine and then to proceed to the delivery end of the machine to removethe cards. Thereafter the operator must again go to the control end ofthe machine to effect re-starting thereof.

It is, of course, necessary that the machine be stopped before removalof cards because during operation of the machine the cards issuetherefrom continuously at a high rate and if the machine is not stoppedthe action of removing cards from the support would seriously interferewith the proper delivery of cards during the removal operation. However,the time taken by the operator in proceeding from end to end of themachine is operational time wasted and it is one object of the presentinvention to avoid such time wastage.

It is a main object of the present invention to provide in a machine ofthe kind above referred to apparatus which is so constructed andarranged that the operation of the machine will be automaticallyinterrupted by the hand of an operator being moved to engage cards onthe support and will be automatically re-started on removal of the hand.

According to the present invention there is provided in a machine of thekind above referred to apparatus comprising an interrupter device, tointerrupt operation of the driving means, a control device to controloperation of the interrupter device, and a manually operable actuatorspring-urged to a normally inactive position in which it is so disposedas to be engaged by a hand entering the path of the support to engagecards thereon and thereby moved from its inactive position to operatethe control device to effect interruption of the operation of thedriving means and being spring restored to permit continued operation ofthe driving means on removal of the hand from said path.

In one preferred embodiment of the apparatus the driving means includesa clutch and the interrupter device comprises a clutch trip member and asolenoid to control operation thereof, and the control device comprisesan electric switch operated by the actuator to control the operation ofthe solenoid. The actuator means may 2 comprise an arm secured to' anddepending from a rocking spindle and normally co-operating with saidswitch to close the solenoid circuit, a flap also secured to the rockingspindle and depending therefrom for manual engagement as aforesaid, anda spring urging said flap to the normally inactive position thereof.

In order that the invention may be clearly understood one embodimentthereof will now be described, by way of example, with reference to theaccompanying diagrammatic drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is an end elevation of the card delivery end of a statisticalmachine,

Fig. 2 is a section on line II-II, Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a top plan of Fig. 2 but with the card feeding rollersomitted, and

Fig. 4 is a pictorial view, partly exploded, of a clutch device includedin the driving'means for the machine and by which operation of themachine can be interrupted and restarted.

Referring to the drawings, record cards are fed through the machine by aplurality of pairs of rollers 1, 2, Fig. 2, supported by the machineframes 3. As is customary the rollers are positively rotated by,gearing, not shown, driven from a main shaft 4, Fig. 4, through a clutchdevice connecting the shaft 4 with a continuously rotating shaft 5, theshaft 5 being rotated by any suitable means, for example an electricmotor, not shown.

The clutch device forms an interrupter device whereby operation of themachine can beinterrupted and comprises a clutch dog 6 secured to a wormwheel 7 freely rotatable on shaft 4 and driven by a worm 8 secured toshaft 5. A clutch pawl 9 is carried by and pivoted on a disc 10 securedto the shaft 4 for rotation therewith, and is urged by a spring, notshown, to the active position thereof shown in Fig. 4. A trip member 11pivoted at 12 to a machine frame 3 is normally heldout of engagementwith the pawl 9 but is operable by the armature 13 of solenoid 14, asdescribed below, to trip the pawl 9 out of engagement with the clutchdog 6 thereby to interrupt the operation of the machine.

The last set of rollers 1, 2, at the left as viewed in Fig. 2, deliversthe cards in succession on to a support 15 supported by guide rails 16for movement in a vertical plane. The support 15 is carried by acarriage 17 which is provided with two upper rollers 18 and a lowerroller 19 running on the rails 16 to steady the support and it is urgedupwards towards the position of delivery of the cards thereto by springs20 anchored to the carriage 17 and to the machine frames 3.

From Fig. 2,it will be seen that cards leaving the last set of rollers1, 2 are deflected downwards towards the support 15 by a deflector plate21 and the leading edges of the cards being superposed on the supportengage a fixed stop plate 22 which aligns the cards as they aresuperposed one on the other on the support 15. As each card is deliveredon to the pile on the support 15 the latter is forced downwards againstthe action of springs 20 by a distance equal to the thickness of thecard.

To facilitate removal of a pile of cards from the support 14 the latteris provided with a cut-away portion 23 but it will be understood thatthe uppermost cards of the pile on the support are always engaged by thestop plate 22. In order to remove cards neatly and in the order in whichthey are stacked on the support it is necessary that the top and bottomcards of the pile be gripped by the hand removing the pile from thesupport. The bottom card can be engaged by the hand due to the provisionof the cut away portion 23 of the support and to facilitate engagementof the top card of the pile, the stop plate 22 has a cut-away portion24, Fig. 2.

In accordance with the present invention the machine is automaticallystopped by the movement of the hand of the machine operator into thepath through which the support 15 moves and this is effected by acontrol device which controls the operation of the solenoid 14 arid tripmember 11 for the clutch pawl 9. The control device, as shown in thedrawings, consists of an electric microswitch 25, Figs. 1, 3 and 4secured to a bracket 26 fixed to one of the machine frames 3, the switch25 being in circuit with the solenoid 14 and controlling theenergization thereof by opening or closing the circuit therefor.

The control device 25 is operated by an actuator consisting of a flap 27depending from and secured to a spindle 28 mounted for rocking movementin brackets 29 secured to the-machine frames 3. The flap 27 is urged bya spring 3-!) to a normally inactive position in which it is so disposedthat it must be rocked inwards, to the right as viewed in Fig. 2, by thehand of an operator moving into the path of the support 15 to engage thetop card of a pile onthe support.

, Also secured to the spindle 28 for rocking movement therewith is anarm 31 which co-operates with the switch 25 to effect actuation thereofon rocking movement of the spindle 28 thus causing the switch to openthe circuit of the solenoid 14 whereupon a spring 32, Fig. 4, acts toinsert the trip member 11 into the path of a tail 33 on pawl 9 to tripthe pawl out of the clutch dog 6 thus interrupting the operation of themachine.

a It is not always desired to remove a pile of cards from the supportbefore. the support has been moved to a predetermined position at adistance from the position of card delivery and so, to ensure thatoperation of the machine is automatically interrupted when the supportdoes reach such predetermined position means are provided to effectoperation of switch 25 when the support reaches the predeterminedposition.

These means comprise a lateral abutment 34 carried by the arm 31- andagainst which rests a rocking element formed by one arm of a bell-cranklever 35 freely pivoted at 36 to the bracket 26. The other arm of thebell-crank lever is normally positioned in the path of the lower roller19 on carriage 17, the roller 19 thus forming a rocking member which,when the support reaches said predetermined distance from the positionof card delivery, rocks the rocking element 35 clockwise as viewed inFig. 2, about its pivot 36 thereby imparting to the arm 31 a rockingmovement such as it receives on movement of the flap 27 from theinactive position thereof and accordingly effecting operation of theswitch 25 which in turn operates the solenoid 14 to effect interruptionof operation of the machine.

From the foregoing it willbe understood that as viewed in Fig. 2, oncounterclockwise movement of flap 27 or clockwise movement of rockingelement 35 the operation of themachine' will'automatically beinterrupted while on restoration of the flap 27 or element 35, by spring30, to its normal inactive position operation of the machine willautomatically be recommended as then the solenoid 14 will be againenergized and its armature 13 will, against action of spring 32, drawthe trip member 11 out of the path ofthe tail 33 thus permitting pawl 9again to cooperate with dog 6 toeffect operation of the machine.

In the foregoing description of apparatus according to the presentinvention there has been described a switch 25 and solenoidl4 foreffecting interruption of the operation of the machine, it will,however, be understood that if desired these parts may be replaced by aBowden wire operated by the arm 31 and acting to. operate the tripmember 11.

I claim:

1. A record card controlled statistical machine com-- prising drivingmeans including a normally active clutch, card feeding rollers driven bysaid driving means, a card receiver to receive cards delivered from themachine by the feeding rollers and including a support movable away fromthe position of card delivery thereto under the position of carddelivery thereby to operate said arm and open said switch to effectinterruption of the driving 4 weight of cards delivered thereto andspring-urged towards the position of card delivery, a normally inactiveclutch trip member spring-urged to the active position thereof therebyto render said clutch inactive, a solenoid cooperating with the tripmember to retain the member in the inactive position thereof, a normallyclosed electric switch electrically connected with said solenoid, arocking spindle, an arm secured to and depending from said spindle andspring-urged normally to close the switch, abell crank to effect rockingof the spindle, and a rocker member carried by said support and operableon movement of the support to a predetermined distance from the positionof card delivery thereto to co-operate with said bell crank and effectrocking of said spindle to a position-at which said arm is movtd therebyto open said switch thereby to render the solenoid inactive and permitthe trip member to move to the active position thereof to render theclutch inactive.

2. A machine according to claim 1, including a carriage on which thesupport is mounted to lie in a horizontal plane, guide rails to guidethe carriage for movement in a vertical plane, rollers freely mounted onthe carriage to run on opposite sides of the guide rails, and springsconnected with the carriage and tending to urge the support towards theposition of card delivery thereto.

3. A record card controlled statistical machine com prising drivingmeans including a normally active clutch, card feeding rollers driven bysaid driving means, a card receiver to receive cards delivered from themachine by the feeding rollers and including a fixed stop plate to alignthe leading edges of cards delivered to the receiver by the feedingrollers, and a support movable relative to the stop plate as cards aredelivered thereon and springurged towards the position of card deliverythereto, said stop plate and support each having a cut-away portion topermit manual engagement of the top and bottom cards of a pile on thesupport to facilitate removal of the pile from the receiver, a normallyinactive clutch trip member spring-urged to the active position thereofthereby to render said clutch inactive, a solenoid co-operating with theclutch trip member to retain the trip member in the inactive positionthereof, a normally closed electric switch electrically connected withsaid solenoid, a rocking spin dle, an arm secured to and depending fromsaid spindle normally to close said switch, and a flap secured to saidspindle and depending therefrom for engagement by a hand entering thecut-away portion of said stop plate, said flap being spring urg'ed to aposition thereof at which said arm effects closing of said switch andoperable on movement thereof against the action of its spring to effectopening of the switch thereby to permit movement of the clutch tripmember to the active position thereof.

4. A machine according to claim 3, including an 'abut-' ment carried bysaid arm, a rocking element engaging said abutment, and a rocker membermovable with said support to effect rocking of the rocking element whenthe support is moved to a predetermined distance from the means. i

5. A machine according to claim 4, including a car'- riage on which thesupport is mounted to lie in a hori- 'zontal plane, guide rails to guidethe carriage for movement in a vertical plane, rollers freely mounted onthe carriage town on opposite sides of the guide rails, and

springs connected with the carriage and tending to urge the supporttowards the position of card delivery thereto.

6. A record card controlled statistical machine comprising driving meansincluding a normally active clutch,

the feeding rollers, a fixed stop plate to align the leading edges ofcards delivered to the receiver by the feeding rollers, a supportmovable relative to the stop plate as cards are delivered thereon, acarriage on which the support is mounted to lie in a horizontal plane,guide rails to guide the carriage for movement in a vertical plane,rollers freely mounted on the carriage to run on opposite sides of theguide rails, springs connected with the carriage and tending to urge thesupport towards the position of card delivery thereto, said stop plateand support each having a cut-away portion to permit manual engagementof the top and bottom cards of a pile on the support to facilitateremoval of the pile from the receiver, a normally inactive clutch tripmember spring-urged to the active position thereof thereby to rendersaid clutch inactive, a solenoid co-operating with the clutch tripmember to retain the trip member in the inactive position thereof, anormally closed electric switch electrically connected with saidsolenoid, a rocking spindle, an arm secured to and depending from saidspindle normally to close said switch, and a flap secured to saidspindle and depending therefrom for engagement by a hand entering thecut-away portion of said stop plate, said flap being spring-urged to aposition thereof at which said arm efiects closing of said switch andoperable on movement thereof against the action of its spring to effectopening of the switch thereby to permit movement of the clutch tripmember to the active position thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,251,221 Cleven July 29, 1941 2,320,393 Randolph June 1, 1943 2,379,828Rubidge July 3, 1945 2,390,573 Dohl et a1 Dec. 11, 1945 2,549,965Fitzgerald Apr. 24, 1951

